Knowing Jesus Means Keeping The Commandments.

[Christian Ekoh]

From the days of Moses at Mount Sinai, the consistent theme of how we know God is to keep his commandments. It was true then and it is true today. If we know God, we keep his commandments.

Yesterday we talked about the sins we may not even realize we are committing, but today we need to take a closer look at the commandments. It's not surprising that keeping the first commandment of believing in one God and not having any other gods before him is taken for granted, but! From Adam and Eve to us, the temptation to be in control of our lives is alive and well. We don't need to even think about original sin: we want to be God.


No? Well, the serpent told Eve that the reason God didn't want them to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was because if they did, they would be like him – and they wanted to be like him. God wants us to obey rules that are made to help us; we hate to be told what to do. One of the first words a toddler learns is "no." We may not kill, but we hold onto anger, and violence is a response for many people to situations where they don't get what they want. Fidelity in marriage is not considered a priority for many people and the media exploits this with programs that actively encourage sexual behavior as "fun" and no strings attached! Vandalism, as well as plagiarism is rampant. Scandals concerning educational qualifications and work applications are common.

Do people understand that this too is theft? Truth can be hard to find in personal relationships, work ethics and the political arena. We want what everyone else has which leads to envy and often destructive behavior. We need to know the commandments in our hearts as well as in our minds. Then we need to keep them.